Chapter 1: Introduction and

Basic Concepts

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 Objectives
When you finish studying this chapter, you should be able
to:
• Understand the basic mechanisms of heat transfer, which
are conduction, convection, and radiation, and Fourier's
law of heat conduction, Newton's law of cooling, and the
Stefan–Boltzmann law of radiation,
• Identify the mechanisms of heat transfer that occur
simultaneously in practice,
• Develop an awareness of the cost associated with heat
losses, and
• Solve various heat transfer problems encountered in
practice.
 Heat Transfer
• The basic requirement for heat transfer is the presence
of a temperature difference.
• The second law requires that heat
be transferred in the direction of
decreasing temperature.
• The temperature difference is the driving force for heat
transfer.
• The rate of heat transfer in a certain direction depends
on the magnitude of the temperature gradient in that
direction.
• The larger the temperature gradient, the higher the rate
of heat transfer.
 Heat Transfer Mechanisms
• Heat can be transferred in three basic modes:
– conduction,
– convection,
– radiation.
• All modes of heat
transfer require the
existence of a temperature difference.
• All modes are from the high-temperature
medium to a lower-temperature one.
 Conduction
• Conduction is the transfer of energy from the more
energetic particles of a substance to the adjacent less
energetic ones as a result of interactions between the
particles.
• Conduction can take place in solids,
liquids, or gases
– In gases and liquids conduction is due to
the collisions and diffusion of the
molecules during their random motion.
– In solids conduction is due to the
combination of vibrations of the
molecules in a lattice and the energy
transport by free electrons.
 Conduction
Rate of heat conduction 
( Area )( Temperature difference )
Thickness
T1 − T2 T
Qcond = kA = − kA (W)
x x (1-21)

where the constant of proportionality k is the

thermal conductivity of the material.
In differential form
dT
Qcond = − kA (W) (1-22)
dx
which is called Fourier’s law of heat conduction.
Application Areas of Heat Transfer
 Thermal Conductivity
• The thermal conductivity of a material is a
measure of the ability of the material to conduct
heat. The effectiveness by which heat is transferred through a
material is measured by the thermal conductivity, k.
• High value for thermal conductivity
good heat conductor
• Low value
poor heat conductor or insulator.
k is called thermal conductivity, a property of material.
 Conductor or Insulator?
• Wood?
• Aluminium?
• Plastic?
• Glass?
• Iron?
• Polystyrene?
• Copper?
• Cardboard?
 Thermal Conductivities of Materials
• The thermal conductivities
of gases such as air vary by
a factor of 104 from those
of pure metals such as
copper.
• Pure crystals and metals
have the highest thermal
conductivities, and gases
and insulating materials the
lowest.
 Thermal Conductivities and
Temperature
• The thermal conductivities
of materials vary with
temperature.
• The temperature
dependence of thermal
conductivity causes
considerable complexity in
conduction analysis.
• A material is normally
assumed to be isotropic.
 Thermal diffusivity
Heat conducted k
= = ( m2 s ) (1-23)
Heat stored cp

• The thermal diffusivity represents how fast heat

diffuses through a material.
• Appears in the transient heat conduction analysis.
• A material that has a high thermal conductivity or a
low heat capacity will have a large thermal diffusivity.
• The larger the thermal diffusivity, the faster the
propagation of heat into the medium.
 Convection
Convection = Conduction (macroscopic
motion)+ Advection (fluid motion)
• Convection is the mode of energy transfer between a solid
surface and the adjacent liquid or gas that is in motion.
• Convection heat transfer occurs between a fluid in motion and
bounding surface when two are at different temperatures.
• Convection is commonly classified into three sub-modes:
– Forced convection,
– Natural (or free) convection,
– Change of phase (liquid/vapor,
solid/liquid, etc.)
 Convection
• The rate of convection heat transfer is expressed by
Newton’s law of cooling as
Qconv = hAs (Ts − T ) (W) (1-24)
• h is the convection heat transfer coefficient in
W/m2°C.
• h depends on variables such as the
surface geometry, the nature of fluid
motion, the properties of the fluid,
and the bulk fluid velocity.
 Radiation
• Radiation is the energy emitted by matter in the form of
electromagnetic waves (or photons) as a result of the
changes in the electronic configurations of the atoms or
molecules.
• Heat transfer by radiation does not require the presence of
an intervening medium.
• In heat transfer studies we are interested in thermal
radiation (radiation emitted by bodies because of their
temperature).
 Radiation - Emission
• The maximum rate of radiation that can be emitted from a
surface at a thermodynamic temperature Ts (in K or R) is given
by the Stefan–Boltzmann law as
Q = s A T 4 (W)
emit ,max s s
(1-25)
• s =5.670X108 W/m2·K4 is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant.
• The idealized surface that emits radiation at this maximum rate
is called a blackbody.
• The radiation emitted by all real surfaces is less than the
radiation emitted by a blackbody at the same temperature, and
is expressed as
Qemit ,max = es AsTs 4
(W) (1-26)

0  e 1
• e is the emissivity of the surface.
 Four containers were filled with warm water. Which container
would have the warmest water after ten minutes?

Shiny metal black

shiny metal
The __________ container would be the warmest after ten minutes
radiation
because its shiny surface reflects heat _______ back into the
black
container so less is lost. The ________ container would be the
coolest because it is the best at _______
emitting heat radiation.
 Radiation - Absorption
• The fraction of the
radiation energy incident
on a surface that is
absorbed by the surface is
termed the absorptivity .

0   1

• Both e and  of a surface depend on the temperature

and the wavelength of the radiation.